Violence Against Women and Impediments in Access to Justice

This report gives an initial historiography of violence against women and its roots in the Subcontinent, and positions in within the broader global context. By juxtaposing the statistics related to both violence against women and men, it shows the numerical prevalence of the former.It speaks to the intersection between violence against women and poverty and then goes into detailed case studies on forms of VAW in Pakistan: abuse of women, prevalence of domestic violence, the socio-customary practice of Karo Kari/honour killing, and apprehensions on the honour killing bill. The author then goes into a discussion on VAW and the media in which he emphasises concern about the harassment and intimidation of the media and legal discrimination against and mistreatment of women. This section is followed by an explanation of the victimisation of women by the Pakistani legal system and criminal justice system. This is followed by a set of recommendations for the reform of the legislature, judiciary, and police, as well as recommended actions for civil society organisations and donor agencies.